Diagnostic medical imaging systems typically include a scan portion and a control portion having a display. For example, ultrasound imaging systems usually include ultrasound scanning devices, such as ultrasound probes having transducers that are connected to an ultrasound system to control the acquisition of ultrasound data by performing various ultrasound scans (e.g., imaging a volume or body). The ultrasound systems are controllable to operate in different modes of operation to perform the different scans. The signals received at the probe are then communicated and processed at a back end. When the scan is complete, the ultrasound data may be stored on a patient archive communication system (PACS) for retrospective examination.
Conventional ultrasound imaging systems include a set of imaging modes, such as B-mode, color flow, and spectral Doppler imaging. In the B-mode, such ultrasound imaging systems create two or three dimensional images of tissue structure in which the brightness of a pixel is based on the intensity of the echo return. For color flow imaging, the general movement or velocity of fluid (e.g., blood) or tissue is imaged in a flow image determined from a Doppler shift between transmitted and return ultrasound pulses. The flow image is conventionally displayed as an overlay or mapped on a B-mode image to view both an anatomical image and a flow velocity. Conventionally, the overlaid image is formed by replacing B-mode pixels with flow image pixels that are only above a set signal power.
However, the color flow imaging of conventional ultrasound imaging systems are limited along a single imaging or azimuth plane of the ultrasound probe. Due to the restriction of the conventional ultrasound imaging systems, the clinician must assure the blood flow of the anatomical structure being imaged is aligned along the imaging plane. Any tilts and/or shifts (e.g., along the elevation plane) of the ultrasound probe during the color flow imaging may result in an inaccurate measurement of the blood flow.